[darwinvsjesus]

I'm a line cook by night and a student by day, and I am getting tired of lugging around my Sennheiser HD-25-iis. I guess lugging is an overstatement. I think I'd like to have more room in my bag for the five thousand books I have to bring, and also not wear my 249.00 phones in a hot, stinking kitchen.
 
 
So, here's what I'm looking for:
 
budget-wise, I'd like to keep it to less than 100, no matter how durable they are, I will be using them in a kitchen, around soapy water, hot saute pans, and various sauces. 
But, I'd like to get something as durable as possible. *so I am quite flexible with the price, for the perfect set*
I won't bother saying they should sound good, because that's silly, given the nature of this website. Instead, here's a short list of things I listen to:
 
lately, a lot of throbbing gristle, skinny puppy,  alkaline trio, marduk, modest mouse, ahab, ghoul, carcass. When I'm studying, I really like to listen to Eluvium, Solar Fields, Aphex Twin, Steve roach, etc.  
 
Something that captures the general sound-pallete here, which is most likely to be something with a neutral quality, without high sibilance or mids that are too up front. 
 
So, that's it. Simple. Something durable. Something not too pricey. Something compatible with a few different genres (ambient, industrial, black metal, death metal, and....indie. I secretly *love* architecture in helsinki, and mates of state.) 
 
I realize I won't get 'it all' like this. Basically, if I can wear them comfortably, not hear glaring imperfections in the music (like high sibilance, ridiculous bass, poop mids), and they can hold up to *potential* misgivings a-la wet hands, jumbling around in a backpack, we're good. I have no idea where to start, I never even considered these ever.
 
Thanks everyone.

 

[Makiah S]

whoa I worked in a kitchen as a line cook... I never hard time for iems hell even cables. We where feeding 600-700 ppl in a 6 hour shift, "buffet" style. We cooked the food, and the Severs ran it to thier tables... so I was making like 6 person portions for about 6 hours straight, and there where only 3 of us... now the Dish Washers wore iems but hell us Line Cooks where so deep in the weeds we didn't have time to listen to music or to have cables any where on our bodies xD [we had a small ish line as well]
 
So to start lucky you man, and I'd be worried about your Iems... melting honestly... I'd imagine that cable getting caught on a saute pan and the cord melting to it
 
Sounds like a SERIOUS Physical Hazard, hell D-Heck might even doc your guys score if they saw you
 
As on line cook to another, get a pair of speakers for your kitchen... honestly any kind of headphone won't just end up destroyed in a few weeks, but could get you seriously injuered, and if not you some one else! 
 
That warning aside, I hope you find what your looking for, please don't hurt your self q.q 

 

[darwinvsjesus]

I should probably clarify a few points.
 
1. The hot pans etc are only potential hazards simply because they exist in the kitchen. It's always too busy to even get a glass of water during dinner. So busy, in fact, that we have a crew of 2-4 people in the way back whose sole job is to replace proteins and sauces on the line as we run low. 
 
Once the kitchen closes, however, we're allowed to wear headphones. Everyone does, and trust me, nobody wants to hear "Very friendly" or "slug bait" or "exhume to consume", just like I don't want to hear Toby Keith, Usher, corporate shill #5969697 or corporate phony #6960706, whatever the kids listen to these days.
 
So, once it's time to clean, I plan on wearing them at work. And even if I didn't want them for work, I would like them for the library at school. It's silent study, sure, but every occupant in the building seems to ignore the "silent" part and the "study" part.  So, the Sennheiser's don't go an adequate job of canceling the noise of noisy dudebros high-fiving each other and opening cans of red bull. 
 
That said, suggestions? Oh, and lets say I found hundreds of dollars this afternoon....in my......wallet. So, lets ignore price for a minute, keeping in mind just because it's way better doesn't mean it's worth the extra money to a college student. 
 
To be fair, I only have a 16gb ipod and I rip all my music lossless because sound quality matters.
 
You're right about the kitchen though. Wearing them during dinner would be impossible and impractical. When I'm mopping the ******* floor, however, I'd love to rock some Skinny Puppy.

 

[zamorin]

The Shure SE215 is well built and has replaceable cables and it costs about USD$100 When I was doing my industrial training as a cook, we were not allowed to wear any sort of ear/headphones. You are lucky.

 

[darwinvsjesus]

Let me ask this question another way.I've never used IEMs. I love my HD 25s, and I am having a hard time understanding how any IEM could have comparable sound quality. I realize the HD 25s aren't the best, but they are nice. 
 
I was looking at the Brainwavz M2 as an inexpensive way to test the water.
 
The more I think about it, the more I want these for school and not work. There's a reason I'm an incredible employee - I don't **** around. Maybe it's best to keep it that way and leave the music at home. Plus, I forgot my Senns today and realized how much easier it was to pack/unpack my bag in class. I need some portability. 
 
So these are for school. Blocking out brodudes, while letting me enjoy some nice ambient at lower volumes. Then if I choose to rock some Skinny Puppy or KMFDM or even Ahab, I would hope for decent sound.
 
No, I don't expect the M2s  to be the IEMs I go for, but I wonder if they have a decent enough quality to give me at least a modest preview of what IEMs can sound like.

 

[zamorin]

Check out Rockit R-50, they look quite tough and are highly rated. You may also want to consider the material used for the cable. I believe it would be better to get an IEM with a cable made of cloth material as opposed to plastic for durability.

 

[Makiah S]

  Let me ask this question another way.I've never used IEMs. I love my HD 25s, and I am having a hard time understanding how any IEM could have comparable sound quality. I realize the HD 25s aren't the best, but they are nice. 
 
I was looking at the Brainwavz M2 as an inexpensive way to test the water.
 
The more I think about it, the more I want these for school and not work. There's a reason I'm an incredible employee - I don't **** around. Maybe it's best to keep it that way and leave the music at home. Plus, I forgot my Senns today and realized how much easier it was to pack/unpack my bag in class. I need some portability. 
 
So these are for school. Blocking out brodudes, while letting me enjoy some nice ambient at lower volumes. Then if I choose to rock some Skinny Puppy or KMFDM or even Ahab, I would hope for decent sound.
 
No, I don't expect the M2s  to be the IEMs I go for, but I wonder if they have a decent enough quality to give me at least a modest preview of what IEMs can sound like.

Very cool a,d honestly the HD-25-1 ii is not a sound to hard to copy, once more I have no idea about any iems >.> Let's hope some one who has experince can help you but 
This thread compares like 250 of them so I'd start here [they are seperated by price range too] 

 

[darwinvsjesus]

Just kidding folks. I've been listening to nothing but Industrial music for a while now. I want something ultra bassy to make songs like this  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GPn1JCY0kLI
 
 
sound epic.
 
Sounds really good on the HD-25s, but can I find an IEM that will deliver really decent sound? ignore price, but consider value to be really getting what you pay for in terms of durability/ the price paid is fair for the quality of the sound.
 
 
Seriously, I just noticed today how awesome this stuff is.

 

[reddragon]

maybe you should check out the massive iems thread ljokerl has compiled...